Jonathan Tweet & Mark

Jonathan TweetAron Anderson

Shannon Appel (Ex Miscellanea, Tremere,Verditius), Nicole Lindroos Frein (Mercere,Merinita), Geoffrey Grabowski (Criamon,Tytalus), Peter (Flambeau,Jerbiton), Marc Philipp Messner

Naomi Rivkis (Bjornaer,Quaesitor)

Naomi RivkisWade Racine

Daniel GelonNancy Gilly, Carol

MonahanRoderick

RobertsonLiz Danforth

John T. Snyder,Mark Tedin, Susan Van Camp, Eric

Eric Maria Carbardo,

Daniel GelonBob

Rob AlexanderKeith Kentop

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published in 1994 by Wizards of theCoast, Inc.

©1994-2012 Atlas Games. All Reserved.™, ™, and

™ are all trademarks of Atlas Games.Order of rmes is a trademark of White Wolf,used with permission.

Note to Latin in 4th edition:Córporem=Corpus

2

Illus. © 1994 Eric Hotz

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

House Bjornaer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

House Bonisagus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

House Criamon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

House Ex Miscellanea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

House Flambeau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

House Jerbiton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

House Mercere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

House Merinita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

House Quaesitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90

House Tremere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

House Tytalus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

House Verditius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

History of the Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Apprenticeship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

THE CODE OF HERMES

“I, BONISAGUS, HEREBY SWEAR MY LIFELONG LOYALTY TO THE ORDER OF HERMES AND ITSMEMBERS.

“I WILL NOT DEPRIVE NOR ATTEMPT TO DEPRIVE ANY MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF HIS ORHER MAGICAL POWER. I WILL NOT SLAY NOR ATTEMPT TO SLAY ANY MEMBER OF THEORDER, EXCEPT IN A JUSTLY EXECUTED WIZARD WAR. I UNDERSTAND THAT A WIZARD WARIS AN OPEN CONFLICT BETWEEN TWO MAGI, WHO MAY SLAY EACH OTHER WITHOUTBREAKING THIS OATH, AND THAT SHOULD I BE SLAIN IN A WIZARD WAR, NO RETRIBUTIONSHALL FALL ON THE MAGUS WHO SLAYS ME.

“I WILL ABIDE BY THE DECISIONS MADE BY FAIR VOTE AT TRIBUNAL. I WILL HAVE ONE VOTEAT TRIBUNAL, AND I WILL USE IT PRUDENTLY. I WILL RESPECT AS EQUAL THE VOTES OF ALLOTHERS AT TRIBUNAL.

“I WILL NOT ENDANGER THE ORDER THROUGH MY ACTIONS. I WILL NOT INTERFERE WITHTHE AFFAIRS OF MUNDANES AND THEREBY BRING RUIN UPON MY SODALES. I WILL NOTDEAL WITH DEVILS, LEST I IMPERIL MY SOUL AND THE SOULS OF MY SODALES AS WELL. IWILL NOT MOLEST THE FAERIES, LEST THEIR VENGEANCE CATCH MY SODALES ALSO.

“I WILL NOT USE MAGIC TO SPY ON MEMBERS OF THE ORDER OF HERMES.

“I WILL TRAIN APPRENTICES WHO WILL SWEAR TO THIS CODE, AND SHOULD ANY OF THEMTURN AGAINST THE ORDER AND MY SODALES, I WILL BE THE FIRST TO STRIKE THEM. NOAPPRENTICE OF MINE SHALL BE CALLED MAGUS UNTIL HE OR SHE FIRST SWEARS TOUPHOLD THIS CODE.

“I SHALL FURTHER THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ORDER AND SHARE WITH MY SODALES ALLTHAT I FIND IN MY SEARCH FOR WISDOM AND POWER.

“I REQUEST THAT SHOULD I BREAK THIS OATH, I BE CAST OUT OF THE ORDER. IF I AM CASTOUT, I ASK MY SODALES TO FIND ME AND SLAY ME THAT MY LIFE MAY NOT CONTINUE INDEGRADATION AND INFAMY.

“THE ENEMIES OF THE ORDER ARE MY ENEMIES. THE FRIENDS OF THE ORDER ARE MYFRIENDS. THE ALLIES OF THE ORDER ARE MY ALLIES. LET US WORK AS ONE AND GROWSTRONG.

“THIS I HEREBY SWEAR ON THE THIRD DAY OF PISCES, IN THE NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTHYEAR OF ARIES. WOE TO THEM WHO TRY TO TEMPT ME TO BREAK THIS OATH AND WOE TOME IF I FALL TO THE TEMPTATION.”

—BONISAGUS, SPEAKING THE OATH OF THE ORDER IN A.D. 767. HE WAS THE FIRST MAGUS TO DO SO.

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describes the twelveHouses (that is, magical lineages) that makeup the Order of Hermes. These Houses providemore material for you to develop magi char-acters and their stories. serves both players and storyguides.

FOR PLAYERS

The material in this book can help youdevelop more-detailed characters and helpyou understand the Order of Hermes better.Here you will find history, politics, legends,secrets, and conflicts that your magi haveinherited through their Houses.

Each House has a special feature forplayers: a sample magus who can serve asyour character’s former master. When youcreate a new magus character, you canchoose one of these magi to be the wizardfrom whom your character learnedmagic. The master’s philosophy, lifestyle,and theory of magic reflect on your char-acter, and you can use the wizard pre-sented here to help you develop ideas foryour own magus.

Some of the material here is primarily foruse by the storyguide, especially the saga andstory ideas. Still, reading this material will notruin the saga for you. Even if you’re familiarwith a saga idea that your storyguide is using,how that plot develops depends more on thestoryguide than on the idea, so you won’t“know too much.”

FOR STORYGUIDES

Knowing the material in helps you run a saga that plays to

the loyalties and attitudes of the players’magi. This material can bring the variousgroups of the Order and their respectivehistories to life.

Many Houses have secrets that they do notshare with “outsiders.” For instance, theBjornaer magi do not tell others what theydo at the Gathering of Twelve Years. OtherHouses may even have secrets that are notmentioned in this material, because out-

siders don’t even know these secrets exist.You can determine the nature of thesesecrets for your saga (though you may wantto consult with the players who run magifrom the respective Houses).

Especially important to you are the sagaand story ideas that accompany each House.These are for you to use, reinterpret, or ignoreas you see fit. Certain saga ideas reveal secretagendas or events. Be sure to keep in mindthat these saga ideas are not official back-ground; they are suggestions for things youcan incorporate into your saga. For example,the saga idea for House Verditius specifies thatthe House has secretly been preparing for awar against the mundanes. Unless you chooseto make this true, it is not part of your saga.

Magi of the Order of Hermes

ca. 1359 in the Age of Aries (A.D. 1220)

Bjornaer 46Bonisagus 29Criamon 61Ex Miscellanea 125*Flambeau 79Jerbiton 85**Mercere 101†Merinita 66Quaesitor 51‡Tremere 64Tytalus 29Verditius 62

*Approximate**Five of these are “Larta magi.” See

for details.†Sixteen of these are Gifted.‡Not including twenty-three quaesitoris ofother Houses

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Remember, there’s a dif-ference between whatyou, the player, knowfrom reading this bookand what your magusknows. Many magi arepoorly informed abouttheir sodales in otherHouses.

Magi of the Order of Hermes

ca. 1359 in the Age of Aries (A.D. 1220)

Bjornaer 46

Bonisagus 29

Criamon 61

Ex Miscellanea 125*

Flambeau 79

Jerbiton 85**

Mercere 101†

Merinita 66

Quaesitor 51‡

Tremere 64

Tytalus 29

Verditius 62

*Approximate**Five of these are “Larta magi.” See

for details.†Sixteen of these are Gifted.‡Not including twenty-three quaesitorisof other Houses